hair mistakes

5 Hair Mistakes You’re Making and How to Fix Them

Somewhere along our hair journey, we’ve been given advice left and right about proper hair care and the “right” way to manage our manes. The beauty industry is, after all, known for throwing us curveballs. However, many of these common hair practices are doing more damage to our locks than we think.  Reclaim your hair’s glory by avoiding these five big hair mistakes.

 

Washing Daily

Nothing beats the look of freshly washed hair — we get it. But if you’re a daily washer, consider yourself an over-washer. When you wash your hair every day, you irritate your scalp by stripping the hair’s natural oils. This causes your scalp to overproduce oil to make up for the amount that was lost. Ever wonder why your hair looks greasy the very next day, begging for another wash? Now you know.

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Avoid this harmful cycle altogether; re-train your scalp to produce oils naturally by skipping a couple of days in between washes. We promise you won’t have to rock the greasy look forever! Tip: use a good dry shampoo in between washes to make this transition a less painful one.

 

Not Giving Those Roots Some Love

If you have fine, thin, or naturally oily hair, you were probably told to avoid using conditioner on your roots so you don’t risk “weighing your hair down” even more. But a healthy, moisturized scalp encourages hair growth and the moisture ends up transferring down to the rest of the hair shaft, creating softer ends.

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When applying conditioner, massage the majority of the product in from the ends up, focusing on nourishing your hair’s most damaged areas first, while leaving a small, even amount for your roots. The key here is not applying too much product to your roots, but just the right amount.

 

Skipping a Pre-Wash Treatment

Speaking of our hair’s natural oils, we want to protect those bad boys. Many shampoos that do a great job of getting our locks squeaky clean often contain harsh ingredients that irritate our scalps and strip out many of these oils. To prevent this, start putting a pre-wash treatment into your hair routine. Look for products that are specifically labeled as a “pre-wash treatment” or simply massage coconut oil into your roots and let it sit 10-15 minutes before you wash your hair to do the trick.

 

Recoloring Hair Completely to Correct Tone  

There are a lot of factors that can affect a good hair dye job. And whatever the cause may be, those pretty blonde and caramel strands might be looking closer to the dreaded brassy yellow and orange tones that everyone wants to avoid. For some, the impulse may be to dye over their color completely to fix the issue, but dyeing over color often tends to leave you with a mixed result and over-processed hair.

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Instead, use a toner to color correct, or wash your hair every few weeks with a tone-correcting shampoo. A purple shampoo works best for those with blonde or silver hair, eliminating yellow undertones, while a blue shampoo works best for brunettes who are looking to cancel out brassy orange undertones.

 

Sleeping With a Wet Head

True story: Our hair is at its weakest when it’s wet. When you combine cuticles that aren’t fully sealed with all the moving around we do at night, you have a recipe for “frizz and breakage”. While it might seem more attractive to trade in the extra time it takes to dry your hair before bed for some shut-eye, you’re truly doing yourself a disservice. Unruly bedhead always requires more time and attention in the morning.

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Pull out the ol’ hair dryer if showering at the end of the night is your thing, or simply wash it in the morning when you know you can’t be trusted to hit the sheets without a wet head.

Which one of these hair mistakes surprised you the most? Are you guilty of any of these? Share with us in the comments!